


Abandoned

by nick_i_kenicki



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Crush, Gen, also learning about gay stuff, bromance i guess, bros kind of learning about each other, idk - Freeform, platonic, platonic crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 17:49:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7277848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nick_i_kenicki/pseuds/nick_i_kenicki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris gets to know Nick and the exciting world he never would have imagined that follows behind him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all. I think this is gonna be a good one. I hope some fans will jump on this because (not hating) but we got alot of fics for Alicia's so I'm striking to fill up the Nick or Chris tag.

       His mom told him to watch himself, be good and keep calm. She assured him that she would come pick him up in four days without fail. They even made a deal that if he did well then he wouldn't have to come back for two weekends in return. It was a disgustingly tempting bargain so he put in another wager. "And how about if Dad says something nice about me to you after the fact, I don't have to do calls for a week." His mom only sighed. He took that as a yes.

And like that she was gone and Chris was on the Clark family doorstep.

      Alicia opened the door before he even knocked.. She was put together casually enough, but her searching eyes gave her anxious thoughts away. She was probably wondering if they were still good. If they were still friends like when they were little, when playing came natural despite the obvious resentment Chris felt for the whole situation. He didn't confirm or deny her thoughts and found it easier to just push past the girl.

      "Oh, hi Chris!" Madison said from the kitchen once he was inside the house. She came into the living room and gave him a slight hug- forming the motions without fully committing. He barely returned the gesture but greeted her back.

    "Hey there, buddy", his Dad said as he came the steps. Chris felt a quick sting of anger at his Dad. He was so grossly happy with the Clark family. Without him and his Mom. He sighed internally and feigned a little smile. His Dad ate it up. It gave him a headache.

    Despite how upset Chris was actually  feeling, the evening went by without a hitch. He pretended to laugh with Alicia , engage with Madison about school and act cordial to his Dad as the night played out. And before he knew it, it was time for bed.

   The room was essentially a foreign hotel room that just happened to have his Dad and the Clark family down the hall, but he didn't care. He fell into a deep sleep as soon as his head hot the pillow.

     He could last three more days of pretending to care as long as things continued along steadily.  

                                . . .  
      
A crash woke Chris from his sleep. It was so loud in that moment and so dead silent afterwards that he vaguely thought he had been dreaming. Worried that a dream wasn't the case, he worked his body from the sheets and shuffled across the cold wood floor as quietly as he could. Once at the door, he poked his head out to scan the hall for any disarray.  
       
      His Dad and Madison's room door was open and they were both inside sleeping normally,  as if the sound hadn't even reached them. He looked down the hall and noticed the same for Alicia's room. All the plants were safe in their pots and the picture frames hung nearly where they always were. Everuthing was fine. Maybe he really had dreamed the sound . . .  
       
     Chris shrugged and started closing the door to go back to bed, but suddenly heard the faintest voice from downstairs say a tight, sharp, "Shit!"  
        
     The teen's heart rate sped up almost instantaneously. Someone was in the house. Someone broke in. He tried to think about what kind of neighborhood the Clark's lived in, but of course the onky thing he could remember was a missing child alert he'd seen in their neighborhood years ago. Was that even a real memory or something he fabricated? Was it -?  
      
      Chris realized all at once that he didn't have time to explore all the possible options because the intruder's shuffling reached the base of the stairs. The footsteps were slow and heavy, approaching at a sporadic pace. Chris knew that he couldn't reach his Dad's  room to alert them now or the intruder would see. Alicia was maybe a possibility, but even if he woke her up, it would be the same situation but with two kids to get hurt. He had to take charge.  
         
     Very slowly, Chris closed the bedroom door and silently began to rummage around for anything he could use as a weapon. Since he stayed in Nick's room when he had to stay over, the fear of not finding anything in the unknown was intensified. There were a few worn action figures, flimsy paperback books, and useless trinkets from a childhood full of collections. The room basically looked like Nick had abandoned it years ago and Madison kept it clean for show.  
        
       Chris shook his head.  He didn't have time to be thinking about Nick. He had to protect the family. He grabbed the heaviest book in the bookshelf, a hardcover of Harry Potter- and waited behind the door. The shuffling became creaking and Chris knew the intruder was close to the door. The teen could barely breathe through his fear, but held strong- even as his doorknob began to turn.


	2. Day 1 in a half

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strange encounters and stranger feelings. Afraid of the word "brother" and old threats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry im not a super cool prolific writer. In return, this chapter is a little longer than my previous one (I think?) So yeah, sorry again you all.

The bed wasn't nearly as big as Chris had originally remembered it to be when he agreed to sleeping in it with Nick. In fact, it felt slightly cramped when they both settled under the covers to sleep. Every move was an earthquake and every breath a storm. He couldn't very well lay lifeless, but just the thought of sleeping normally was dizzying.

Nick was stiff for quite awhile too, seeming to suffer from the same thoughts untill sleep suddenly stole his consciousness as quick as it came and he descended into a deep slumber. It was such a hard sleep that the only thing that marked his even being alive to Chris after awhile was the occasional toss or turn.

Nick eventually came to face him, and feeling a little less nervous now that the night was finally still, Chris felt free to scrutinize the older boy. Nick's tone was rich and smooth like one of those beach bums whose life consisted of surfing and smoothies rather than the hopeless street kid the family made him out to be. His hair was thick, tangled mane of blacks and browns and the slightest hints of gold. Other than the swelling bump from the place Chris accidentally hit him with, his face was somewhat handome.

It was certainly different seeing as Madison had acted like Nick was the spawn of all evil before and even during their awkward introduction that night. She had been the first one to wake up when their little altercation took place. Of course all she did was fuss over Nick and emphasize how he couldn't be alone because of his "episodes" or whatever. Overall, Chris felt a little put out, but it was Madison- That was her thing.

Chris tried think about it too hard, even his mom said that he had a habit of amplifying things. He tried to sleep.

. . .

It was early in the morning, a pale light was hitting the horizon and Chris woke up to the sound of retching. Disoriented, he expected to find his room at home, but quickly remembered where he was and who was most likely sick. Just as the youth expected, Nick was half falling off of the hed, head in a wastebasket, vomiting. He may have needed help, he maybe wanted to be left alone, Chris had no idea how to help.

The younger let his hands roam a little and placed them gingerly on Nick's back, intending to pantomime the comforting gesture, but suddenly the sick man looked back. His eyes wild and body heaving. Their eye contact was fleeting, but it scared Chris. He immediately turned over and pretended to go back to sleep.

The sound of Nick's retching subsided and the sound of him quietly cleaning up lulled Chris into a real sleep.  
. . .

Neither boy spoke of the incident from the night when morning hit. They got dressed separately, ate breakfast at opposite ends of the table with the family and mostly kept to their own devices. They weren't avoiding each other, they just weren't very friendly. Chris’ Dad, noticing the rift and attributing it to the commotion of last night, prompted them to hang out together.

“You two should spend some time together. Outside ”, Travis coaxed. “I know you shouldn't exactly be left unsupervised, but I think some quality time would do you guys well.” Chris bit back his protests when Nick agreed and shrugged at Alicia who barely acknowledged them.

So they went, together, to the mysterious “outside”.

It was unfamiliar, being like this. Nick and Chris just walking down the street as if they were friends, as if they were brothers. No, as if they were casual- when nothing about their relationship was casual. Their togetherness was made of one half begging from Chris' dad and another half a nagging feeling of being "different" to make one whole strange experience.

Maybe the lack of cool was what actually made everything all the cooler. There were no real obligations and thus, no real expectations. Chris didn't want anything from Nick, but as the went further and further down the street, he realized he was drawn to follow the older boy when they could have easily parted ways by then.

"So", Nick started, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the sidewalk as they came to gradual stop. "What do you wanna do?"  
Chris shrugged. "I don't know, we could just keep walking, I guess. Or you could run away now." Nick didn't respond but his amused smile was enough to signal that separating was out of the question.

Nick's eyes suddenly flashed to the teen's and he asked, "Do you like drugs?" Chris visibly froze and he swallowed hard with an uncertain, "No thanks . . ." He didn't want anything to do with drugs, of course, but he felt nervous telling Nick that, in case the older boy suddenly turned into the predator school always made drug addicts look like. Much to his relief though, the older boy only shrugged and said, "Well, I get that. I wouldn't take anything either if I was completely sober again." He put a lazy arm around Chris' shoulder and told him fondly, "Man, you're certainly smarter than I was."

Chris looked at him. Even with the fond smile, there was definitely a twinge of sadness there. A story waiting to bloom. He found himself curious . . . No. Stop. He was getting ahead of himself. He couldn't forget that he didn't come to his Dad and Madison's place to actually do anything. He came to live the domestic humdrum for four days so he wouldn't have to come back for awhile. He came to- Nick's grip on his shoulder suddenly tightened.

“Don't say anything”, Nick suddenly said in an urgent, low whisper. Chris stiffened and followed Nick's gaze to a slow cruising black van across the street. A few guys were getting out of it, most noticeably, an intimidating man with a slight smile and an easy walk.

“So this is where you've been Nicky”, the man said as he approached. “You were looking for me Calvin?”, Nick answered with feigned nonchalance even though Chris felt his hands trembling. The man called Calvin gave a hearty laugh. “Of course I've been looking for you”, Calvin’s happy demeanor suddenly fell asleep he continued. “You never hit me up with payment for your last fix.” 

Chris felt it radiating off of Nick, the sudden chaotic fear that usually came before the fight or flight senses kicked in. The younger didn't know much about the drug culture, but he knew avoiding payment was a very bad thing to do. Also, despite the easy manner Calvin predominantly spoke in, Chris was sure Nick's dealer wasn't the person to mess with. He found himself moving in front of Nick as if to protect him.  
Calvin took notice right away.

“Who's this Nicky? You're side piece?” Calvin saod, gesturing to Chris. “I'm not sure Gloria would appreciate you running around with some little”, Calvin’s scrutinized Chris and reached for his hair. “Boy?” Nick jerked Chris away and warned, “Come off it Cal. He's like . . . family.”

Calvin seemed amused, but he didn't voice it. He onky shrugged and repeated that payment was needed for the previous drugs Nick had bought from him.Nick sighed as he admitted, “I don't have any money man”. His voice seemed steady enough but his grip that had been moving discreetly to Chris’ began to close in. 

“I mean, we could go back to my house to talk it over”, Nick said with a nod towards the road leading to the house. Calvin followed the nod and in that moment, Nick pulled Chris into a run by his hand.

Despite his surprise, the younger had no trouble keeping up. He stole a look back up the street to see Calvin still in the same place, laughing. He had no intention of chasing them like a gang member. He was above that nonsense, and that realization almost made Calvin that much more menacing. Nick didn't stop though. So Chris followed behind him, compliant. Where they were going, the younger couldn't guess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you guys see the recent Fear trailer *-* I'm getting excited~   
> Hit me up in my inbox if you wanna talk about the show or my fic. Anything lol. Thanks and sorry again for the long wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this. Tell me how ya feel about it- what you think about the cliff hanger. All that jazz. See ya all soon.


End file.
